The Witch's Son
by ryuzaki4
Summary: Axel is a witch and Roxas is his last customer for the day. A/U. May or may not make this multi-chaptered.


"Thank you again," The man said as he backed out of the door to the witch's shop. In his hands was a small vial of purple liquid. It gleamed in the scarce light of the setting sun as the man continued backing out, bowing as he did so, "I can't thank you enough. This is going to change everything. Thank you, thank you." His speech was directed to the witch that was standing in the middle of his doorframe, thumbs tucked beneath his suspenders and a crooked smile on his. The man entered his carriage and had his chaperone drive him off, waving out of his carriage window as he drove down the dirt road. Axel stood in his doorway as he watched his last customer for the day leave. With a relieved sigh, the redhead re-entered his workshop. Potions were still brewing, sitting in their cauldrons and bubbling as Axel was counting down the days until they were ready to be chilled. Axel walked pass those, glancing over at one that was fading to a disgusting brown color. It was almost ready, but not quite there yet. Scattered about on every countertop were dried roots and pieces of creatures that were not meant to be identified. Hanging on the ceiling were herbs and spices. They were hexed to grow at an appropriate length so that Axle could simply reach up and pluck what he needed to without much effort. In the place of plucked herb, the plants grew. Now, the grasses were all tickling the top of Axel's head, reminding him that they were ready to be used. Cats swirled about the redhead's feet. None of them mewed or made a noise other than purred. Catnip hung from the ceiling as well and very much sedated all of the felines that entered his home. Gloves, scarves, hats, and other miscellaneous clothing items that people had forgotten were all piled in one corner of the shop in case any homeless people were to wander through asking for donations. Axel always obliged to give to them, though he knew they were expecting money. Shelves were lined up as one entire side of Axel's wall, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Nothing was labeled, though the redhead knew where everything was supposed to go. The stepping stool that he used to get to the very top waddled after the man, asking to be used. He waved it away and it slinked beside a table that was covred in pipes of all different sizes and colors.

Axel went up a small flight of stairs where a bookshelf waited for him. His heavily ringed finger ran over the worn down covers of the books as he searched for none in particular. When he found a purple leather bound book, the redhead plucked it off of the shelf and slid it beneath his arm. Sitting on the top of small bookshelf was a plant. It opened its mouth at the sight of Axel and prompted the man to run his finger underneath some of the leaves. The flower shuddered in joy before closing its petals and going back to sleep. Axel took a glance out of one of the nearest windows and noted how red the sky was. It was getting late and he didn't think he was going to get another customer until early morning.

"Closing shop," Axel called to the empitness. As if on cue, the door to his shop opened and a young blond man stepped in. He had exceptionally blue eyes that Axel could see, even from the top floor. He blinked at the young man who stared back at Axel, breath heaving. The two stared at each other for another moment or two before the blond cleared his throat.

"Are you the Witch of Twilight Town?" The small man heaved. Axel, still surprised that eyes so blue could exist, simply nodded in response. "Good, uh.. I was told that I could purchase a potion from you? I don't know all the details, and I've heard that you can be paid in many different ways. I have gold, silver.." The blond brought out a leather bag that jingled as it moved in his small hands. "Whatever it is that you desire. I just need to purchase something. Please." Axel blinked a few more times before setting his book back on its shelf. He rolled his sleeves up as he stepped down from the second floor and approached his new customer. He noted how small the other one was compared to him, and delighted in the fact that he could see the intimidation on the blond's face.

"What is it you need?" Axel asked, smiling politely. The blond took a step back cautiously.

"Potion," He replied, "I need a potion. Something that will allow me to see in the dark for at least a day." Axel frowned. He had expected something more exciting. With the way the blond was heaving, he must have been rushing from somewhere. Axel thought there was an emergency. Perhaps someone close to the young man was ill and close to death. That would have been more interesting. It had been a while since Axel had been bought out to cheat death.

"Why do you need it?" Axel continued the idle chatter, though he had turned away from the blond to begin creating the potion. It wasn't fairly difficult to make. A potion that lasted that long wouldn't take too much to make. "Are you running away from something? Or perhaps you're a peeper and have someone you want to spy on?" Axel looked over his shoulder at the blond who was red with embarrassment or anger. Axel couldn't tell.

"Excuse you," The blond lifted his chin, "I am no peepr, nor am I running from something. I'll have you know that I work for the Order and I am a keeper of the books." Axel raised his eyebrows as he plucked a bowl from the table of potions and dumped its contents on the floor, replacing them with the herbs and petals that were in his hand. It must have been apparent that Axel didn't care for what the young man did as a profession because he continued speaking. "We're running low on candles," The blond explained, brushing his coat of what dried roots had fallen on him, "And I can only work by candlelight at night."

"So use a bulb," Axel said, rotating his finger around the bowl. The contents began squishing around until they formed a disgusting looking ball of goop. When no answer came from the blond, Axel looked at him to make sure that he hadn't accidentally been paralyzed by something. He turned to see a look of confusion on the blond's face. "You don't know what a bulb is, do you?" The blond shook his head, tossling his spikey hair. Sighing, Axel set down the goop and went to one of the shelves. The stepping stool rushed over to him, but he merely kicked it away. Axel returned to the blond one he found what he was looking for. He handed it to the blond.

"What is this?" The blond turned the bulb around in his hand several times. Cautiously, he lifted it to his nose and sniffed it, as well as poked his tongue out to lick it. He stared bewildered at the device, "Is this my potion?"

Axel rolled his eyes and took it back. He held the silver bottom of the bulb in his hands and twisted. Suddenly, the bulb turned on and began emitting a brilliant yellow glow throughout the room. "This is a bulb," He said. With another flick of his wrist, Axel turned the bulb off and set it on the counter. "I'll give it to you if you sell me your voice for a day."

"My what?" The blond asked, hands going up to his throat.

"Your voice," Axel pointed at the young man's throat, "It's really nice and I'd like to own for a day or three. It'd be worth it since bulbs don't come cheap."

"Well, would you teach me how to use it?" The blond asked, stepping forward and taking the bulb from Axel's hands. His movement and close proximity allowed Axel to get a smell of the boy. He smelled like ink and old parchment. Axel had never really been fond of the smell since it reminded him of primary school, but he suddenly had a liking for it. He looked down at the blond.

" 'Course," He nodded, "You just - " He took the blond's hands in his own and twisted the boy's wrist. Nothing happened. The light didn't turn on. There was no birlliant luminescence. The blond looked at Axel and Axel looked right back.

"Nothing happened," The blond said, not taking his eyes off of Axel. Axel gulped let go of the blond's hands.

"Maybe you're just an average person," He said with a shrug, "If you've got witch blood in you, it should have worked. If it didn't even turn on, then I guess there's nothing there." The blond looked at the bulb in his hands before placing it gingerly on the table beside the potions. Axel waved his hand over the bowl of goop and the gross substance turned into a a round green tablet. He pulled it out of the bowl and went to the cauldron that was last emptied. He took a peek inside before lifting up the small pot and tossing it onto his floor. The blond stepped back a few paces, making sure that the liquid didn't get on his feet. Several of the cats were hit by the liquid, though none of them seem effected by it at all.

"You're not very tidy, are you?" He made a face as the potion was sucked into the floor.

Axel shrugged at the question. "Everything here is natural. Well, with the exception of the bulbs. They don't really do any damage and they kind of just disappear after so long. I don't worry about it too much. Nothing bad ever happens, anyway." He rapped his knuckles on the table seven times. The blond nodded his head slowly as Axel poured two red vials into the cauldron. Smoke began to rise out of the top. In a few seconds, the smoke froze and was stuck there permanently. The blond's eyes widened at the sight.

"Is this your first purchase?" Axel asked, blowing on the frozen smoke. "You look like you've never stepped into a shop before."

"I never thought I needed to," The blond admitted with a shrug, "But there's been a shortage of candles and.. Well, I need my job." Axel nodded several times.

"What's your name?" He asked the customer. The young man looked a bit shocked to be asked the question, but happily replied with a word that shattered Axel's sound mind in two syllables:

"Roxas," He smiled, "My name's Roxas." Axel scratched the underside of his chin before nodding.

"I'm Axel," The redhead choked.

"Got it," Roxas said. The two stood there dumbly staring at each other before either said anything. Axel wasn't really sure what to say to Roxas now that he knew his name. The potion was almost done and there wasn't much to ask about. He knew his profession and name. He knew why Roxas was buying the potion. What else was there to ask about a customer?

"Did you train to become a witch?" Roxa asked curiously. Axel clenched his jaw. He was a bit baffled as to why the blond was asking. He usual customers didn't say much anything else but looked around at the shop since they were finally given a chance to take it all in. Roxas's eyes never left Axel. He felt a little bit strange, like he was being judged or critiqued.

"I went to primary school," Axel answered, "I had to go through training, but I never really was taught anything besides writing. I just kind of knew how to do everything one day, I guess."

"You mean you were born with the talent?" Roxas inquired, leaning forward a bit as if he were inerested in what the redhead had to say.

"In a way, yes," Axel rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, the basics, I guess. I had to learn how to brew a potion and how to cast spells without saying them. Once you've mastered the basics, you get to open a shop."

"Why did you open a shop here?"

"I like this town."

"Why?"

"It's small."

"Why haven't I seen you around before?"

"You weren't looking," Axel caught Roxas off guard. The blond dropped his guard and smiled, laughing. Axel stared, unsure of why the boy was smiling. Was he delusional? When Roxas was finished laughing, he smiled at Axel, eyebrows knitted.

"I'm sure I would notice you," He said through a grin, "Your hair is hard to miss. It's bright red. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that." Instinctively, Axel's hand went into his hair and combed through the locks. He smiled himself.

"Yeah," He answered, "Yeah, when you get to open your own, you pick your own color so that you can be distinguished from others. It also makes it easier for people to see who's a fraud and who's real. We don't have licenses like other jobs, so in a way our hair is our license. Get it?" Roxas nodded before pointing at Axel's cheeks.

"What about those markings?" He went to touch Axel's face, but the redhead drew back. "Sorry.. Do other witches have that, too?"

Again, Axel's hand went to his cheek and touched at his tattoos that rested beneath each of his eyes. "No, these are strictly my clan, only." Roxas nodded. He looked amazed and the idea that Axel could do that to anyone boosted his ego. He typically got comppliments on his hair, though Roxas seemed to be surprised at everything about the redhead. The two stared at each other for another moment. Axel found himself staring absently into Roxas's eyes. He'd really never seen a blue like them. Perhaps it was because of the contrast of the young man's hair to his eyes, but they glistened brighter than any gem the redhead had seen. He knew it was cliched, but those eyes set his heart off. Axel wanted to say something to Roxas. He wanted to continue the conversation and keep the blond talking. Keep him here until the sun went down so that he would have no choice but to stay with Axel. He knew that could never happen though. If he got too emotional, it would be too hard to control his magic and he couldn't continue to run his shop if he couldn't control himself. No, Roxas would just have to be a daydream for a rainy day.

The smoke for Roxas's potion unfroze. All of the smoke had crystallized and fell into the cauldron. Axel flicked his wrist upwards and the potion began bubbling. It wasn't long until the crystals melted into the concoction and disappeared completely. When the crystals were all gone, Axel took a vial from the side and dipped it into the potion which had turned to a bright red color. He capped the vial before handing it to Roxas who took it carefully.

"How much do I owe you?" Roxas asked, reaching into his pockets with his free hand to grab a hold of his money bag.

"Nothing," Axel said, holding up his hands, "You don't have to pay for anything."

"But I have to," Roxas frowned, "I'd feel like a thief if I didn't compensate you for your work."

"Really," Axel smiled, "You don't have to pay me anything at all. Consider it a gift. First purchase is free on the house." He smiled which prompted Roxas to give his own. He clutched the vial in his small hands before heading out of the door.

"Thank you," Roxas grinned, "Thank you very much. Really, I don't know - Thank you, Axel." The redhead swallowed his nervousness and gave a smile.

"Go before it gets late out," He said, shooing the young man away, "Good bye, Roxas. Thank you for your patronage." Roxas thanked Axel again before running off down the road. Axel watched Roxas leave until he was sure that he could no longer identify the young man among the trees. He sighed, closing his shop door behind him. The cats went back to swarming his ankles, but they were quite noisy. He shushed them and plucked some catnip from the ceiling so that he could toss it in a corner to get them away from him.

"Closing shop," Axel cried into the emptiness. Somehow, his shop felt much bigger than he was earlier today. He looked around his shop, trying to figure out what could possibly be missing from his shop, even though he knew that it was nothing. He pointed at his door and rotated his finer until he heard the sound of a lock clicking. The redhead stared at the door when he noticed something. On the floor was a small object, and upon further inspection, Axel found that it was a pen nib. He picked it up to inspect it. Dried ink was caked around the tips of the nib. The scent of ink and old parchment lingered on the nib.

"Roxas," Axel smiled. "He slipped the nib into his back pocket and began heading towards the small staircase that would lead him up into his room. As he walked through his shop, the candles that were on dimmed until they were eventually extinguished. Axel stepped up the bookshelf on the second floor and heaved it the side so that he could access a hidden door that lead him to his room. He waved his hand at the bookshelf so that it closed behind him and kicked off his boots. He undressed himself, making sure to pull the nib out of his pocket and place it on the nearest flat object. Axel stripped down until he was in his underwear before climbing into bed. He inhaled, smelling the nib that was at the foot of his bed. That night, he dreamt of a young man entering his shop with stunning blue eyes.


End file.
